Boarded up: The house in South London pictured after the three women escaped last week

'MAOIST SLAVE' IS DAUGHTER OF BLETCHLEY PARK HERO

One of the three women allegedly held as a slave by a Maoist sect in South London is the daughter of one of the greatest Bletchley Park codebreakers, it has emerged.

The father of Josephine Herivel, 57, was John Herivel, pictured, who was instrumental in deciphering the Nazis' Enigma code during the Second World War.

But by the time he died two years ago, she was apparently estranged from the family after becoming a radical Leftist in the 1970s and being arrested for assault.

Ms Herivel was brought up near Belfast’s so-called 'millionaire row' with her two sisters, Mary and Susan.

Her father John, a brilliant mathematician, was recruited from Cambridge University to break German military ciphers at Bletchley Park in January 1940.

After the war he published a number of books on his work and moved to Belfast to become a lecturer at Queen's University, before retiring to Oxford as a fellow of All Souls College.

In the same year Josephine, then 22, was arrested for assault and obstructing police in London along with a number of young women.When her father died in 2011 obituaries only made mention of his two other daughters, who now live in London.

Last week Rosie Davies, 30, escaped Balakrishnan along with Josephine Herivel, 57, the daughter of a Bletchley Park codebreaker, and Aishah Wahab, 69, who came to Britain from Malaysia as a student.

The three women were set to be formally interviewed by police yesterday after several days of being assessed by psychologists.

Commander Steve Rodhouse said: 'The victims are in the care of specialists who have got great experience of dealing with people who have been subject to trauma.

'We're working to that advice of those experts as to how best to handle those victims, to support them and of course to draw out the evidence we would need to substantiate any prosecution.'

He said that there may have been 'many and varied offences' against the women, who were allegedly held captive at various addresses in London, but that their ordeal may not be defined as slavery.

'We need to maintain an open mind on what this particular incident is before we jump to those conclusions and labels,' Mr Rodhouse said.

But he added: 'The crucial issue for us is that, on the basis of the information that we've had indirectly from victims, clearly criminal offences have been committed. What we need to do now is to understand that in much more detail.'

The commander said that his team had requested documents from the inquest into Ms Davies' death, which was not considered suspicious at the time.

'We have retrieved the court papers, the inquest papers, and we are in the process of reviewing those to see what they can tell us about the police involvement in that inquiry', he said.

'We were not called to the address at the time of Sian's death but we are reviewing what later involvement we had in assisting the coroner to come to that open verdict.'

Yesterday a man who was drawn to the Maoist sect but refused to join the commune said that Balakrishnan, 73, had convinced his followers he was a communist Messiah.

'LET ME SEE HER BEFORE WE DIE': PLEA OF MALAYSIAN ESCAPEE'S SISTER

Flying in: Kamar Mautum arrives at Heathrow

The sister of a Malaysian student allegedly enslaved by an extreme Left-wing sect for decades yesterday into Britain to see her 'before either of us dies'.

Retired teacher Kamar Mautum says one of the three captives freed last month is her sibling Aishah Wahab, 69, who disappeared after joining the Maoist faction based in Brixton.

She landed at Heathrow with documents said to prove the captive is her sister and now hopes to see her for the first time in at least 30 years.

As she boarded a flight from Kuala Lumpur to London to be reunited with her sister, Mrs Mautum said: 'I have felt so choked without her for years and years.

'She was so talented; she was the apple of my mother’s eye. She asked for her on her deathbed.'

Miss Wahab is believed to have suffered a stroke while she was allegedly held captive by sect leaders Aravindan Balakrishnan and his partner Chanda.

Her sister added: 'This has been a dark age for her and for all of us. I will do anything to bring her home. I want to see her before either of us dies. I am not sure if she will remember me but I am hopeful she will.

'I hope her health is OK and she is receiving all the help she needs.'

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Fourth Lambeth 'slave' who died in fall from window 'gave £60k to Maoist sect'